Thread: "Los Angeles, MEXICO?!" No Way, Jose!

http://mooreisbetter.com/nowayjose.htm

"Los Angeles, MEXICO?!" No Way, Jose!
Why Americans Should Neither Invest In Nor Advertise With Liberman Broadcasting Company, Which Put Up The Infamous Billboard

Who put up these insulting, anti-American signs around Los Angeles? Who in the world would have the gall to proclaim Mexican sovereignty over America's second-biggest city?

The answer is Jose Liberman, his son Lenard Liberman, and their company, Liberman Broadcasting Company, located at 1845 West Empire Avenue, Burbank, California 91504. The company's phone number is (81 563-5722.

Here's what you need to know about the Libermans:

1. The Libermans Back Villaraigosa For Mayor.

The Libermans have contributed thousands of dollars to mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa. What does that tell you about who they think will help make Los Angeles a part of Mexico?

2. The Libermans Want American Investors To Help Them Convert American TV And Radio Stations Into Mexican TV And Radio Station.

The Libermans make millions each year by broadcasting TV and radio shows in the U.S. in the Spanish language. You may have heard of their show, "Gana la Verde," or "Win the Green," where contestants compete to win a green card. The Libermans, who have already become rich thanks to our nation -- Lenard Liberman received undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford -- now hope to raise millions of additional dollars for their company from American investors through an initial public offering of stock. As papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by their lawyers, Latham & Watkins, LLP and O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, the Libermans know that their financial success depends on maintaining or increasing the number of Spanish-speaking people in the U.S.:

The success of our radio and television stations is primarily dependent upon their share of overall advertising revenues within their markets, especially in Los Angeles and Houston. Our stations compete for audiences and advertising revenue directly with other Spanish-language radio and television stations . . . . As the Hispanic population grows in the United States, more stations may begin competing with us by converting to a format similar to that of our stations.

Rather than encouraging immigrants, whether legal or illegal, to learn English, the Libermans have quite a different future in mind. They don't want to compete with all the English-language TV and radio stations. Instead, the Libermans want to maintain a large Spanish-speaking population in the U.S., and to "own" that market by buying more and more American stations, and converting those stations to Spanish-language format! Here is how the Libermans and their lawyers explained it in the papers they filed with the S.E.C. (the bold print, by the way, is theirs):

If we are unable to convert acquired stations successfully to a Spanish-language format, anticipated revenues from these acquisitions may not be realized. Our acquisition strategy has often involved acquiring English-language stations and converting them to a Spanish-language format. We intend to continue this strategy with some of our future acquisitions.

Does that sound like a company an American should invest in? Do you want to help fund the take-over and conversion to Spanish of American TV and radio stations? Does that sound like a good idea to you?

3. The Libermans Treat Their Investors With The Same Respect They Treat The U.S.

The Libermans' S.E.C. filing also discloses how great it is to work for the Liberman Broadcasting Company -- provided your name is "Liberman," that is. For example, you get great deals on loans. Here's a passage from their company's S.E.C. filing on "loans" the company made to Jose and Lenard:

Shareholder Loans

As of September 30, 2004, we had outstanding loans, including accrued interest, aggregating $236,457 and $2,332,669 to Jose and Lenard Liberman, respectively. The loans were for the personal use of Messrs. Jose and Lenard Liberman. . . . Each of these loans bears interest at the alternative federal short-term rate published by the Internal Revenue Service for the month in which the advance was made, which rate was 2.48%, 2.91% and 2.84% for December 2001, June 2002 and July 2002, respectively.

Borrowing millions for less than 3% interest?! Sweet! Hey, why don't you ask the Libermans to loan you a few million for a new house at 3% interest rate? After all, that's more interest than they're paying to borrow millions. Did these guys ever get the memo on Enron?! Who in his right mind would invest in a company where the officers use company money to make million-dollar loans to themselves at below-market interest rates?

But wait! It gets even better -- if you're a Liberman, that is! Rather than making sure all advertising revenues go directly to the company, Jose and Lenard set up a separate company, that they own, to take a 15% cut off the top! Here's the S.E.C. disclosure about that:

Spanish Media Rep Team

Jose and Lenard Liberman own and operate our national sales representative, Spanish Media Rep Team, Inc., or SMRT. SMRT receives a 15% commission from us for any commercial time it sells to national advertisers on our radio and television stations. We believe we pay commissions to SMRT on an arm’s length basis because the rate is based upon the commission rates we paid to former third party national sales representative firms. We paid approximately $0.6 million, $1.3 million and $2.2 million to SMRT for services provided to us for the years ended December 31, 2001, 2002 and 2003, respectively. We paid approximately $1.6 million and $1.4 million to SMRT for services provided to us for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2004, respectively. Prior to this offering, we expect to consolidate SMRT into our operations on terms that we believe will be on an arm’s length basis.

Geez, you'd think with all those millions in commissions, they could repay their low-interest loans, huh? But wait, there's even more! Check this out: Lenard gets free advertising on Liberman Broadcasting Company's stations! Here's the S.E.C. disclosure:

L.D.L. Enterprises, Inc.

Lenard Liberman is the sole shareholder of L.D.L. Enterprises, Inc., a mail order business. From time to time, we allow L.D.L. Enterprises to use, free of charge, unsold advertising time on our television stations.

So when Jose and Liberman sell advertising time for the company, they get a 15% commission, and when they don't sell it, Lenard gets the time for free?!!! What a great deal -- for them! Maybe you should call them and ask if you can use the unsold time to explain to their viewers that Los Angeles is in the United States of America.

3. Tolerance? The Libermans Lost Advertisers In The Past For Gay-Bashing.

Should we simply "tolerate" the Libermans' in-your-face assault on American sovereignty? Well, the Libermans aren't really in a position to urge tolerance. You see, they are notorious for gay-bashing broadcasting. So notorious, in fact, that the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Coalition Against Violence (NCAV) convinced some big advertisers -- Chevrolet, Nissan and Kentucky Fried Chicken -- to stop doing business with them. You can read more about that here: GLAAD Press Release of 4/29/05. Friends don't let friends advertise with Jose and Lenard.

* * *

It's a free country. The Libermans are entitled to put up their offensive, anti-American billboards. But we, the citizens of the United States, are likewise entitled to refrain from investing a dime in companies like theirs, and to encourage advertisers to run their ads on other company's stations, stations that know Los Angeles is in the United States of America

A billboard is one thing but the problem is Latins outnumebering everyone else in LA county by at least 6-1 (in a couple minutes from now 8-1) is something they should really address.